1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a nitride-based semiconductor device and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a nitride-based semiconductor device for preventing a leakage current and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information communication technologies have been developed for ultra-high speed and high-capacity signal transmission. With the ever increasing number of applications for personal mobile devices, satellite communications, military radars, broadcast communications, and communication relays in the wireless communication field, the demand for a high-speed, high-power electronic device for an ultra-high speed information communication system operating in microwave bands and millimeter wave bands has been increasing. Transitively, attempts have been made to reduce an energy loss in a high-speed high-power electronic device.
For example, studies have been conducted on developing a high-speed, high-power electronic device using a gallium nitride (GaN)-based semiconductor with excellent properties, e.g., a high energy gap, a high thermal and chemical stability, and a high electronic saturation velocity of about 3×107 centimeters per second (cm/sec). A GaN-based semiconductor device is known to have a high breakdown field of about 3×106 volts per centimeter (V/cm), a large maximum current density, stability at a high temperature, and a high thermal conductivity. Also, a heterojunction field effect transistor (HFET) using an aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)/GaN heterojunction structure has large band discontinuities at an interface, resulting in high electron mobility in which a great number of electrons are freed.